Became The Son Of The Final Boss [EN]: Chapter 78

78.

“Battle traces.”

Leoden moved quickly.

“The opponent seems to be a skeleton… and there seem to have been at least twenty or more.”

The traces of the battle were visible to me, even without Leoden pointing them out.

I could tell just by looking at the skeleton bone fragments scattered here and there.

“Gale did not participate in the battle.”

I couldn’t help but widen my eyes at those words.

“Gale?”

“Yes. The person accompanying him killed all the skeletons.”

There was surprise in Leoden’s voice as well.

I had personally experienced that skeletons were weaker than Dullahan [a powerful undead creature], but they were still powerful undead that required at least three or four knights to attack simultaneously to kill without taking damage.

Our party was able to deal with the skeletons without damage because of my presence, but also because the number of knights was much larger than the number of skeletons in the first place.

However, the person presumed to be Gale’s companion killed at least twenty skeletons alone.

‘It’s Karen.’

I hadn’t met her in person, but I was now completely convinced.

“Do the traces continue forward?”

“Yes.”

I immediately hurried along the path.

I was getting more and more anxious, so I hurried, but I soon had to stop.

The cave had completely collapsed.

“It seems that the explosion we heard earlier was here.”

The cave we were in and the current cave are different places, but considering that they are connected to the prison, the distance itself doesn’t seem to be that far.

Leoden went near the collapsed area and looked down.

“I can’t see anything. It seems very… deep.”

I immediately sent Sylph [a wind spirit] down and summoned Phoenix [a fire spirit] to light up the area below.

As if it were the abyss, the light of the Phoenix could not illuminate the bottom of the collapsed area.

Sylph’s voice was heard.

-It’s very deep.

‘How much?’

-I think I still have to go down further.

‘Tell me when you reach the bottom.’

I informed the knights of the situation.

“We are sending a spirit to find out how deep it is.”

I soon thought of the other side. If the cave hadn’t completely collapsed, there might be a place that leads to the other side beyond this hole.

I asked another Sylph how long the hole was.

-It’s very long. I don’t think you can jump over the hole at once.

I nodded at Sylph’s words and asked Leoden.

“Gale is a knight on the verge of becoming a Sword Master. His Majesty said it himself, so it must be true.”

David, Leoden, and the other knights were very surprised.

The fact that the Emperor of the Empire had declared it was as good as the truth.

“But he was locked up in prison, so his physical condition wasn’t normal.”

Leoden added his reasoning.

“If the explosion earlier was the sound of this hole being created, and Gale was here, he probably couldn’t move to the other side in an instant and fell straight down.”

Leoden carefully examined the area near the hole to add logic to his reasoning.

“I think my guess is correct. The traces of the two people continue right up to the hole. And judging from the distance between the traces, they seem to have been running at a tremendous speed.”

David’s face became serious.

“Tremendous speed?”

“Yes. The distance between the traces is short, and if you look at these traces, it looks like their feet barely touched the ground. Considering Gale, this means that he used mana to the fullest to make his body light and ran at the highest speed.”

I felt my facial muscles stiffen.

“If you run that fast and such a big hole suddenly appears?”

“He would have fallen.”

David pointed out another problem.

“If Gale was running at a tremendous speed, it means that his physical condition has almost recovered. He probably wouldn’t be injured if he fell. The problem is whether we can get down.”

I was only thinking about Gale’s safety and hadn’t thought about how to chase after him.

David continued.

“Your Highness, how deep is it?”

At David’s words, I quickly came to my senses and asked Sylph, who had gone down below.

‘Have you reached the bottom?’

-Yes. It’s very deep.

‘Very?’

-I think you’d be falling for quite a while if you jumped down?

“Go down below. I’ll go down first and ten people will come down at a time according to the signal. The signal will be sending two Sylphs up at the same time. Jump when you see the Sylphs. I’ll support you from below with spirits.”

I was planning to use the power of the spirits to slow down the speed at which the knights fell.

The knights were skilled enough to land safely with just that much.

Everyone nodded as if they thought it was a good idea.

I called Silphelven [a high-level wind spirit].

I didn’t have the ability to land as gracefully as the knights, so I had to entrust my body entirely to the spirit.

As soon as I got on Silphelven’s back, Silphelven immediately jumped into the hole.

As Sylph said, it was a really deep hole.

And the air seemed to get colder as I went down.

How much time had passed?

Silphelven landed on the ground, and I summoned Phoenix to light up the surroundings.

Huge piles of stones were welcoming me.

* * *

“It seems we can only meet him if we catch up quickly.”

After all the knights came down without injury with the help of the spirits, Leoden looked at the traces and advised me.

“Quickly?”

“Yes. Gale’s traces are here, but the traces of his companion have disappeared. And Gale moved forward quickly.”

I nodded at Leoden’s words.

“Okay, let’s hurry.”

Leoden set the direction, and we followed Leoden.

I felt anew how great Leoden’s ability was.

He had never missed Gale’s trail so far.

Leoden found traces like a ghost, not only in wide open spaces, but also in forests and dark caves.

If Leoden hadn’t been there, would we have been able to find Gale’s trail so easily?

We would have likely struggled with much bigger challenges and variables than we are now.

Because he wasn’t a character I had directly set, I felt like I was learning about Leoden one by one like this.

Of course, I always felt that even the characters I had directly set were very different from my settings.

Because of them, I realize that this world is a living, new world.

“Your Highness!”

Leoden’s voice was urgent.

A clear sound of battle was heard not far away.

“David, to the front.”

David, who had been supporting the rear, joined the front.

I spread the Flow of Wind and Earth [a spell] and further increased my speed.

At the same time, I called Silphelven, who had been returned to the spirit world.

The sound was getting closer and closer.

Kwaaaang-!

The cave shook with the explosion.

The identities of those fighting gradually became clear through the dust.

“Gale!”

The broad back and brown hair were definitely Gale.

Gale ran towards us with a long bone in his hand.

“Your Highness!”

There was no time to share a reunion.

“Sword!”

One of the knights threw a spare sword to Gale. Gale threw away the bone and grabbed the sword.

There were as many as three Dullahans that we could barely beat, and the number of skeletons was hard to count.

“Silphelven!”

The high-level wind spirit Silphelven jumped into the skeletons.

David and Leoden were the same. They joined the battle like the wind, and the other knights also stuck to the skeletons.

It was a wide open space, as if it had been prepared for fighting, large enough for nearly a hundred of us and numerous skeletons and Dullahans to exchange blows.

I unfolded the Wind of Fire [a spell].

The target was Dullahan.

I judged that they should be dealt with first because I had experienced the power of Dullahan.

As Phoenix was summoned after Silphelven, the surroundings were filled with heat in an instant.

The Wind of Fire, unfolded by the two high-level spirits working together, showed truly powerful power.

The harmony of a wolf running while creating wind and a firebird flying above it was like a painting.

Kwaaaang-! Kwang-! Kwang!

The skill affected the skeletons, and the cave walls were destroyed by the power of the skill.

And one Dullahan was completely engulfed in flames.

A strange scream erupted from the head tucked under its arm.

“Kuaaaaa!”

As if boasting that Dullahan was indeed a powerful undead, it did not die from a single skill.

Even though it was a skill unfolded by two high-level spirits, Dullahan quickly overcame even the pain.

Kwang-!

Silphelven was pushed back by the sword swung by Dullahan.

Ignis shouted loudly.

“What are you doing! You have to supply more mana! Do you know how much damage a spirit master takes when a high-level spirit is reverse summoned?”

I quickly came to my senses and supplied more mana to Silphelven, and even called Undineon [a water spirit].

I didn’t forget to summon Noes [an earth spirit] as well.

Mana was consumed like flowing water, but I didn’t care.

Maybe everyone could die in this place.

The combination of Dullahan and skeletons was that scary.

In particular, the fact that there were three Dullahans, not just one, was a burden.

Gale was in charge of dealing with one, but we had to take care of the other two.

It was quite difficult to deal with one, and Leoden had crossed the line between life and death.

But two.

Not only were there Dullahans, but there were also skeletons, and the space was wide, so the direction of the battle was completely different from before.

How did Gale endure it?

“Keueok!”

The groans of the knights were already heard.

I tried to summon as many spirits as possible to exert influence on every battle.

I completely held one Dullahan in place and had Noes interfere with the movements of the skeletons.

Undineon and Phoenix took on the role of directly attacking the skeletons with the knights.

“You’ve really improved a lot. In that short amount of time.”

Gale said, swinging his sword.

I honestly didn’t have the energy to answer. I just smiled and responded to Gale’s compliment.

Even a high-level spirit master had to focus on exactly one high-level spirit to produce the proper power.

I was aware of the fact that I was special.

In the current battle situation, I was completely different from the general spirit masters described in my mother’s spirit book.

I am a master of intermediate spirit masters, summoning and handling high-level spirits of different attributes and even intermediate spirits.

I was out of my mind, but I did my best to ensure that all the spirits could exert their power.

“Silphelven!”

As expected, the one I was most concerned about was Dullahan.

I constantly harassed Dullahan through Silphelven and Ignis, but there was no decisive blow.

The same was true for Gale.

I instinctively unfolded the Flow of Wind and Earth at the sudden feeling of coolness.

Wheeong-!

A skeleton’s sword cut through the air behind my back.

Cold sweat ran down my forehead.

It was a complete free-for-all.

The current situation was much more dangerous than when we fought the orcs in the forest.

There were no fairies to suddenly appear and help us now.

Gooooooo-!

A chilling energy spread throughout the commons.

Kwang-! Kwang-!

Dullahan’s sword hit Silphelven hard.

The shock was transmitted to me as well.

Keok, a scream erupted involuntarily.

The ceiling of the commons was stained with darkness.

“Kekekekeke.”

The battle stopped like a lie at the low laughter.

My knights and I were distracted by the source of the laughter, and the undead stopped moving.

“Kekekekeke.”

With the laughter that was heard once again, a space was torn in the air.